An appealing invitation to look more closely at the world of lizards and a welcome addition to a nature shelf.
Can you behave like a lizard?
Using a series of rhythmic triplets followed by two-syllable lines, Sayre invites young readers and listeners to imagine being a lizard. “Would you lunge like a lizard? / Sponge like a lizard? / Chew bugs like a lizard? / Mouth mash?” (A final page reminds readers to “Be you!”) Once the reader-aloud masters the form, this text would be a delight for storytime, encouraging imitation. Laberis used digital media to create reasonably accurate paintings of the one (occasionally two) lizard that performs the behaviors described, often with a bit of natural background. Each animal shown is clearly labeled with its common name. These 28 lizards are described more fully in short paragraphs keyed to the behavior depicted and headed with the common name, Latin name, usual home, and length in the backmatter. Various expert herpetologists are credited with scientific review of this appealing work by nature-lover Sayre. Some pages include other animals: The opening spread shows an American badger chasing a six-lined racerunner, and the last shows a greater short-horned lizard defending itself from a coyote. These lizards come from around the world; they vary amazingly in shape, size, and habitat. Suggested further resources include both books and websites.
An appealing invitation to look more closely at the world of lizards and a welcome addition to a nature shelf. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-62979-211-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute.
Readers bid farewell to a beloved canine character.
Momo is—or was—an adorable and very photogenic border collie owned by author Knapp. The many readers who loved him in the previous half-dozen books are in for a shock with this one. “Momo had died” is the stark reality—and there are no photographs of him here. Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be discerned under the mixed media). Previous books contained few or no words. Unfortunately, virtuosity behind a lens does not guarantee mastery of verse. The art here is accompanied by words that sometimes rhyme but never find a workable or predictable rhythm (“We’d fetch and we’d catch, / we’d run and we’d jump. Every day we found new / games to play”). It’s a pity, because the subject—a pet’s death—is an important one to address with children. Of course, Momo isn’t gone; he can still be found “everywhere” in memories. But alas, he can be found here only in the crude depictions of the darling dog so well known from the earlier books.
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693864
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet and endearing feathered migration.
A relationship between a Latina grandmother and her mixed-race granddaughter serves as the frame to depict the ruby-throated hummingbird migration pattern.
In Granny’s lap, a girl is encouraged to “keep still” as the intergenerational pair awaits the ruby-throated hummingbirds with bowls of water in their hands. But like the granddaughter, the tz’unun—“the word for hummingbird in several [Latin American] languages”—must soon fly north. Over the next several double-page spreads, readers follow the ruby-throated hummingbird’s migration pattern from Central America and Mexico through the United States all the way to Canada. Davies metaphorically reunites the granddaughter and grandmother when “a visitor from Granny’s garden” crosses paths with the girl in New York City. Ray provides delicately hashed lines in the illustrations that bring the hummingbirds’ erratic flight pattern to life as they travel north. The watercolor palette is injected with vibrancy by the addition of gold ink, mirroring the hummingbirds’ flashing feathers in the slants of light. The story is supplemented by notes on different pages with facts about the birds such as their nest size, diet, and flight schedule. In addition, a note about ruby-throated hummingbirds supplies readers with detailed information on how ornithologists study and keep track of these birds.
A sweet and endearing feathered migration. (bibliography, index) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0538-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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